[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 63 (Monday, May 7, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S2892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

NOMINATIONS OF AJIT VARADARAJ PAI AND JESSICA ROSENWORCEL TO BE MEMBERS 
                OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: 
Calendar Nos. 512 and 513; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, 
the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, 
with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in 
order to any of the nominations; that any related statements be printed 
in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the 
Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The nominations considered and confirmed are as follows:


                   federal communications commission

       Ajit Varadaraj Pai, of Kansas, to be a Member of the 
     Federal Communications Commission for a term of five years 
     from July 1, 2011.
       Jessica Rosenworcel, of Connecticut, to be a Member of the 
     Federal Communications Commission for a term of five years 
     from July 1, 2010.

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I rise today to say a few words about the 
nomination of Ajit Pai to be a member of the Federal Communications 
Commission. I have supported his nomination and that of his fellow 
nominee, Jessica Rosenworcel, and am pleased that unrelated matters 
have finally been resolved and that the Senate has confirmed both 
nominees.
  Ajit is somebody whom many of us have come to know from his years of 
public service, whether on the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the 
Department of Justice, where Ajit worked on both antitrust and legal 
policy matters, or in the general counsel's office of the FCC. I 
especially appreciate his important work on the Roberts, Miers, and 
Alito Supreme Court nominations during the 109th Congress, as well as 
his careful attention to national security matters while at the 
Department of Justice.
  Ajit is the son of immigrants who came to this country seeking 
opportunity, as did the ancestors of so many of our fellow Americans. 
They settled in the small town of Parsons, KS, population of 10,000. 
During his testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee, Ajit shared 
his memories of the sense of community and the Midwestern values that 
he learned in Parsons. He worked hard in school, excelled at both 
Harvard College and the University of Chicago Law School, and built a 
career in law and policy. Today, Ajit finds himself being confirmed to 
this position of honor and receiving a unique opportunity to serve his 
Nation. I am certain that his parents, having come to this country just 
40 years ago, are immensely proud of him.
  We should all be grateful that individuals like Ajit choose to serve 
in these important positions, especially in fields where there are also 
opportunities in private life. He will be a member of the FCC for more 
than 4 years. I am grateful for his service and appreciate that he and 
his wife Janine have agreed to make this sacrifice for the good of our 
Nation.
  I am very disappointed that these nominations have been delayed for 
so long for nongermane reasons. Good men and women simply will not 
volunteer to serve if they are arbitrarily forced to spend months in 
limbo, uncertain as to their future.
  As an FCC Commissioner, Ajit will be one of five individuals 
overseeing an agency with 2,000 employees and a budget of $350 million. 
The Commission has broad regulatory authority over the Nation's 
communications industry. The communications landscape has evolved 
dramatically, not just during my lifetime but since I entered the 
Senate in 1995 and even in the past few years. It is sometimes 
difficult to remember how we functioned before we had the ability to 
reach most people on cell phones, to access the Internet from computers 
in any corner of the globe, or to watch videos of our children and 
grandchildren on mobile devices. Most Americans were raised in a world 
in which the television offered just a few channels, there was no cable 
news, and telephones had rotary dials.
  Policymakers should be reminded that many of the technologies that we 
take for granted today will soon be gone, and we do not really know 
which technologies will become obsolete and in which direction the 
Nation's innovators and consumers will take us. Congress and the FCC do 
not make those decisions, or at least they should not. These decisions 
should be made by the American people in their capacity as consumers, 
businessmen, entrepreneurs, investors, and citizens.
  Government does not create innovation or make entrepreneurs, and it 
should not be in the business of picking winners or losers or trying to 
shape private investment. The government's proper role in 
communications, as in other sectors of our economy, is to establish 
clear and stable rules that encourage competition, that give consumers 
choice and allow markets to thrive, and that keep bureaucratic 
preferences and politics to a minimum.
  Ajit has made clear that he shares this understanding of his role. I 
think that we can expect good things from him as a member of the 
Federal Communications Commission.
  I congratulate Ajit on this honor and am proud to have supported his 
nomination.

                          ____________________